uBRDO Cycle & Mountain Supply Kirkland, WA–based bike and outdoor retail shop
Work: Creative Direction, Design, Business Management

Summary: uBRDO Cycle & Mountain Supply was a small boutique bicycle and outdoor shop on the Eastside of Seattle, Washington. The majority of the bikes we offered were custom ordered and built, and I designed the shop with a clean, warm aesthetic that welcomed customers, their significant others, and their friends and families to spend time in the shop while we got their orders together, fitted them, and tailored their bikes to their needs.

This business was born out of my desire to do something new in the Seattle cycling scene, bringing together the bike and outdoor communities (which was surprisingly rare in the metro area) and also creating a modern, clean retail space. The Kirkland neighborhood we were based in was very exclusive, with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Costco, and Bungie all just a quick pedal away, and $100,000-plus cars rolling down the street in a steady trickle.

The main highlight of this business was the effectiveness of our marketing. We were very grassroots, very much in the trenches, and we quickly became well known, being voted one of the best bike shops in Western Washington from our first year in business. With a word-of-mouth focus, we ran very few ads—and the ads we did run were targeted to stand out.

We spent the majority of our weekends offering free support to local races and bike/outdoor events, spreading the word, handing out stickers and buttons, and partnering with favorite brands to offer samples and prizes. We sponsored several teams, including our own cyclocross and endurance team called uBRDO Team Project. I used my experience in jersey design to design team kits that not only got our logo and aesthetic in front of people all over the world, but also got the word out about our little slice of heaven.